The Importance of Insight

Frank Hamrick, Aug. 28, 2013

Proverbs 1:18

“And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily [hide] for their own lives.”

The sinners described in these verses had no foresight. They enticed naïve youth to follow them. Yet they walked the path of their own destruction! Youth lack the ability to see beyond today. This is a sign of immaturity, not of rebellion. Keep in mind that your best youth can be enticed to the grossest sins because of their innocence.

“Experience is the best teacher,” we are told. Yet, we could avoid much heartache if we would but listen to those who have had the experience. Solomon here warns the simple to look beyond the now. So we must do with our children.

Parents, bare your hearts to your children! Be transparent. Share with them those times when you didn’t listen to experience and the sadness it brought you. Show your failures. Obviously, you don’t have to dredge up sins best left dead. But you can demonstrate those times when you failed to see the end from the beginning, and its consequences. Let them see that we all struggle but that this is no excuse for sin.

Teach them how to look at the end, not just the beginning. Use Moses as an example (Heb. 11:23–27). Teach them of Lot. Would he have made those same choices had he seen the end of his life? He was driven by the lust of gain; he lived for the moment. He was driven by the desire for what looked best. Yet it led to his destruction because he had to consider the future. Warn them that some may “lay wait for their own blood.” Teach them Proverbs 1:24–32. Use examples (anonymously) from the lives of others you have known. Teach them to live with eternity’s values in view.

Final thought: The wise parent teaches his children to see the ends of their actions.